Do you talk in your sleep?

SleepTalkerIf you have never been able to answer that question, Greatist.com has found one.

Since the app launched in Sweden in 2010, more than two million people have recorded their nighttime mumblings, Mashable reported. The way the app works is pretty smart: It only records a few seconds worth of sounds at a time, so you won’t have to listen to seven hours of silence in hopes of catching a single snore. Once they listen to their nighttime ramblings, users have the option to (anonymously) upload the recordings to the main feed on the app’s homepage. The app’s site already features snippets of real-life recordings from sleep-talkers across the globe. (For a laugh, check out “had a wee?” by user “underpants.”)

You can access the full article HERE.

ADHD Treatment to Lower Crime Rates?

According to an article in NaturalTherapyForAll.com, research has shown that sufferers of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) who received treatment for their condition, where less likely to commit a crime than those who did not receive treatment.

Over 25,000 people over 15 years of age were studied, and the results have shown that people with ADHD where much more likely to break the law, and that medication effectively reduced the rates of criminality among the patients who were treated.

The full article can be accessed HERE

Dealing with insomnia: the power of relaxing

Many people are well aware of the tossing and turning and the slowly-increasing frustration that comes with being unable to sleep. The precious hours available for rest keep slipping away as you lie there, unable to drift off. What is the cure? Will there ever be one? Is the only way to medicate yourself to sleep? How about meditation or exercise? Or that really boring book you received from your aunt last Christmas?

insomnia1

Incidentally, while on the subject of books, The Guardian provides a review of a new study that investigates insomnia and ways to help people who suffer from it.

“The condition of sleep is profoundly contradictory,” notes Emily Martin, a professor at New York University who has studied insomnia. “It is a precious good … but it is a good like none other, because to obtain it one must seemingly give up the imperative to have it.”

The article further reiterates:

(…) insomnia is a unique and difficult condition to treat because it is self-inflicted. The cause is often the brain’s refusal to give up its unequalled ability to think about itself, a metaphenomenon that Harvard professor Daniel M Wegner has called “the ironic process of mental control”.

So should you turn to sleeping pills or, possibly CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) for help? While the article may raise more questions than it answers, it still provides interesting overview of pros and cons of medication, as well as possible use of CBT. Especially if you are reading this in bed, because you are unable to sleep… You will find the article HERE.

Disclaimer: The Hazelton Clinic is not liable for content or changes in content of any outside sources. The above information is provided for entertainment purposes only, and is meant to encourage healthy lifestyle, emotional and physical well-being and awareness. It does not constitute medical advice.

Dangers of sedentary lifestyle

sedentary-lifestyleDid you know that exercise is not just good for you; it is, in fact, mandatory? BBC have published an article showing that sedentary lifestyle is responsible for nearly as many deaths as smoking (even though, as less people smoke than lead sedentary lifestyles, smoking is still deemed far more dangerous).

The report, published in the Lancet to coincide with the build-up to the Olympics, estimates that about a third of adults are not doing enough physical activity, causing 5.3m deaths a year.

That equates to about one in 10 deaths from diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and breast and colon cancer.

Researchers said the problem was now so bad it should be treated as a pandemic.

And they said tackling it required a new way of thinking, suggesting the public needed to be warned about the dangers of inactivity rather than just reminded of the benefits of being active.

You can access the full article HERE.

Food Addiction Shown to be Similar to Drug Addiction

According to an article recently published on www.examiner.com, new research suggests that food addicts are going through similar brain chemistry changes as hard drug addicts. Tests performed with rats have revealed that addiction to junk food (the likes of sausage or cheesecake) produces chemical changes in the brain, similar to those that are experienced by addiction to drugs (cocaine and heroin).

This “Study shows compulsive eating shares addictive biochemical mechanism with cocaine, and heroin abuse,” according to the study.

For too many people then, bacon, candy, french fries, and many other fattening foods are like abusing cocaine, or heroin.

At the heart of  the study are brain chemistry shenanigans occurring from the ingestion of fattening foods, just as there are changes in substance abuser brain chemistry from drugs.

The full article was posted on www.examiner.com website, and you can access it by clicking here (article will open in a new window).

Psychiatrist Dr Bríd Corkery Joins the Hazelton Clinic

The Hazelton Clinic is highly pleased to announce that we are now accepting referrals for psychiatric care.

Dr Bríd Corkery M.B. B.Ch. B.A.O. M.R.C. Psych. D.P.M. has joined our panel and will be accepting both GP referrals and self-referrals.

Dr Corkery has extensive experience of over 20 years in both public and private capacity. You can view Dr Corkery’s profile here.

Family Mediation Services

Starting in early January 2011, the Hazelton Clinic is now offering services of professional Family Mediation.

Family Mediation is a voluntary process which a couple undergoing a family break-up may choose to undertake. It enables them to reach an amicable agreement for themselves and their families, with the impartial help of the Accredited Family Mediator.

To start the mediation process, full co-operation of both parties is required. The process is flexible, time efficient, cost effective and confidential.

We have added a detailed description of the Family Mediation Services, including detailed description of each steps that are involved in the process. CLICK HERE to access the article.

A family break-up is an extremely difficult, psychologically and emotionally exhausting time for all parties involved. The Family Mediation service has been introduced to help through this painful process.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

We would like to wish everyone Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We will be closed from Thursday 24th December 2010 throughout all holiday season and will reopen again on Tuesday 4th January 2010.  The phone line will not be manned during this time, so please feel free to leave us a voicemail message or email any enquiries you may have, and we will get back to you as soon as we are back!

Wishing you happy, merry and safe holidays

– the Cork Counselling Team